


been lost for too long

by fairytalelights



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Crack, Curse Breaking, Fairy Tale Elements, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Kidnapping, M/M, Pining, Smut, Unicorns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:01:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24701233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairytalelights/pseuds/fairytalelights
Summary: Nothing much interesting happens in Harry's life, ever. Sure, some would – literally – kill to trade places with him at the palace. But being seventh in line for the throne comes with a set of annoying and boring responsibilities and none of the fun that the actual royal princes, Harry's cousins, get to have.Except, maybe, for the fact that people seem to want to kill Harry on a daily basis.or, the one where Harry gets kidnapped and Louis rescues him. Kind of.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 30
Kudos: 191
Collections: Bottom Harry Fic Fest





	been lost for too long

**Author's Note:**

> Translation into Spanish available [here](https://www.wattpad.com/story/237000476-been-lost-for-too-long-traducci%C3%B3n) by [aphroditemotel](https://aphroditemotel.tumblr.com/)
> 
> This was written for the prompt "Harry is kidnapped and Louis saves him". So, dear prompter, I apologize for... everything. You've probably expected an angst fest or at least a bit of Hurt/Comfort, but instead I've turned it into... this.  
> Hope you enjoy it anyway!
> 
> Thank you to Niki, as always, for the beta and the perfect moodboard, and Isa, who told me I was funny and would not embarrass myself by posting this!
> 
> Happy reading!

_Drop, drop, drop._

Harry counts fifteen drops of water before the noise stops for a few seconds, then starts up again. He shifts a bit, trying to uncross his legs, which proves to be rather difficult.

He might be... in a bit of a situation right now. More accurately, he's currently tied to an uncomfortable chair, has an annoying but bearable headache from being knocked unconscious earlier, and a desperate need to pee that apparently none of his kidnappers considered before leaving him alone in a dark, kind of dungeon-y looking room for at least the past three hours. If Harry wasn't so incredibly tired, he'd probably make a few sex jokes right about now.

Sadly, there's no one here to make sex jokes to. He's certain someone must be standing guard in front of the door, but he's a bit afraid it's a dragon, or worse, a _unicorn_ ; so he decides that calling out for help can wait until he's a bit more desperate.

Sadly, that means there's only one thing left to do: Dwelling on how he ended up in this situation. Honestly, Harry isn't that surprised.

Out of all the things that could have possibly gone wrong today, _of course_ a kidnapping had to be one of them.

Life in Harry's kingdom is usually pretty ordinary. Sure, sometimes a fire gecko or two get lost and burn a few trees – or an entire part of the forest – down. Or every now and then there would be a misunderstanding with some fairies, causing them to curse a random village for a century or two. One time, a witch even tried to erase the entire kingdom from existence, a plot that was stopped by a few elves or something – Harry isn't quite sure what actually happened, he's been too busy preparing for a few royal balls at that time.

So, nothing much interesting happens in Harry's life, ever. Sure, some would – literally – kill to trade places with him at the palace. But being seventh in line for the throne comes with a set of annoying and boring responsibilities and none of the fun that the actual royal princes, Harry's cousins, get to have.

Except, maybe, for the fact that people seem to want to kill Harry on a daily basis.

It started out when he was about eleven. He was out exploring the castle grounds, a thing that his stupid prince-ly cousins were apparently too noble to do, so he went on his own. His mum was mostly fine with him roaming around, knowing the castle guards wouldn't let him get far.

So there he was, trying to find a few good hiding spots in the royal gardens, when a flock of magical birds came flying at him out of nowhere. They probably would have attacked him and hacked him to pieces, if at that exact moment, there hadn't been a different group of magical birds, also set on attacking him.

Long story short, the two groups of birds slammed into each other, causing chaos and a few dead birds, while 11-year-old Harry started wailing, and ran away to find his mum.

Instead of being shocked, his mum sighed deeply and explained to him that some evil godmother from somewhere had put a curse on him as a child for some reason or other, ensuring the universe would have it out for him from the day he turned eleven until the rest of his days. Unless, of course, the curse got broken by true love's kiss.

Harry wasn't too surprised at the revelation of a curse. Curses were pretty common in their kingdom. He just didn't understand why his had to include _death_. Most people just lost their voices or turned into frogs for one day a month or something. His parents had the _worst_ kind of witch-friends.

After a few years of being sheltered in the castle, not being let near knives, fires, large objects, open windows, or generally anything fun, his parents kind of gave up on protecting him from his curse, accepting that trouble would find Harry wherever he went anyway. And their wing of the castle really couldn't afford all the renovation from the accidents Harry kept having. It was probably better to let him get in trouble outside, where he at least had a larger area to spread the damage on.

So, all in all, Harry is not exactly shocked to find himself here now.

He wishes he could say kidnapping was a new experience for him, but honestly, it's getting kind of old. Everyone and their mother seems to do it these days, most don't even have a good reason for it. Technically, Harry knows the curse is making them do these things, but he still can't quite forgive the few old ladies who tried to kidnap him to sell him off at an auction for eligible bachelors.

The only reason he'd gotten away was because his friends – mostly Niall – were idiots who actually planned to drag him to that auction themselves. Let's just say, it was an awkward backstage encounter that luckily ended with Harry persuading his friends that conspiring with his kidnappers was morally questionable and getting beheaded by the king would not be worth the few laughs they'd get out of it. Good times.

Harry sighs loudly. This particular kidnapping experience is proving to be rather disappointing so far. Most of his kidnappers haven't gone for the wet and dirty dungeon before, preferring to stay in their homes, not even really trying to conceal their identities.

Harry has also always been allowed to help himself to his kidnappers' snacks so far. As far as he can see, there are no snacks in this dungeon. So in both regards, this one is turning out to be significantly more exhausting than the rest of them.

“Hellooo!” a cheery voice suddenly comes from behind him. It sounds exactly like someone faking a deep voice, but Harry decides not to remark on that just yet. In his experience, it's better to start with politeness.

“Hope you didn't get bored while waiting,” the guy grins. _Ugh_ , he's off to a bad start. How is Harry supposed to stay polite in the face of _that_.

“Well, I don't mean to complain, but a book or something would have been nice,” Harry replies, trying not to sound too annoyed. The man practically asked for feedback, so he doesn't see anything wrong in being honest.

He doesn't seem offended though, shrugging as he steps into Harry's view.

“Well, to be fair, we weren't quite prepared for a kidnapping today. Honestly, _I_ wanted to wait until we had this planned out better, but Li-, umm, I mean my mysterious co-conspirator... well, anyway, we decided to do it today...” his kidnapper trails off, seemingly not sure what to say anymore.

He's standing directly in front of Harry now, a black mask pulled over his head, and, because that apparently isn't cliché enough already, he's wearing a black hood on top of that as well. Harry knows that this should be the part where he memorizes every little detail about his kidnapper, but he's tired and exhausted and he honestly feels no desire to talk to the royal sketch artist ever again. That guy's an _arse_.

  
“So,” Harry sighs. “I assume you heard that every now and again the king can be persuaded to pay some ransom money for me and decided to try your luck? I have to warn you that it's usually not more than ten pieces of gold, and even for those you have to be very good at negotiating.”

Harry can't really make out a facial expression through the few holes in the guy's mask, but if he has to guess he would say the guy is... amused?

“Oh, no,” he chuckles. “We don't want ransom money. This kidnapping would be over way too quickly if we were after that. No, you're... how do I say this politely... bait.”

“Bait,” Harry repeats dryly. This is just _great_. Not only is he stuck with this stupid curse, now he's apparently not even important enough anymore to warrant a kidnapping all on his own. He's just being _used_.

“Bait for who? The _king_?” he asks incredulously. His uncle doesn't actively hate Harry, but he's convinced that's mostly because he'd have to have talked to Harry in person more than once to hate him. Mostly they talk through the king's advisers who like to second-hand lecture Harry after another one of what they call his _missteps_. Harry calls them _consequences of a curse that was put on him at birth against his will_ , but what does he know?  
His kidnapper actually laughs at that. “No, certainly not. Oh wow, can you imagine the king marching in here in person?” He makes a show of wiping imaginary tears of laughter from his eyes. Harry scowls at him.

“No, we're after your _beau_. For reasons I can't disclose right now, we kind of need Louis Tomlinson to come and rescue you.”

Now it's Harry's turn to let out a shocked breath of laughter. It dies in his throat a few seconds later when he realizes his kidnapper isn't kidding.

“You kidnapped me to get to _Louis_?” Harry asks slowly. The thought of that seems absurd. “Because you think he's my... what did you call it... _beau_?”  
His kidnapper shrugs. “Beau, lover, boytoy, object of your affection... call him what you want. Fact is, we want him here.” His tone seems a bit familiar all of a sudden, but Harry doesn't dwell on that thought. He knows _a lot_ of people.  
“Ah no, I see what happened,” Harry sighs. “You made a mistake. Louis has a boyfriend.”

 _Should have kidnapped him instead,_ he can't help but think bitterly. Then he could be at home right now, curled up with an edition of _Kingdom Gossip Weekly_ or having a nice hot bath.

His kidnapper, inexplicably, snorts. “Yeah, I don't think so. He'd have to leave the palace and hang out with someone other than you for that first.”

Harry frowns. Louis has told him his boyfriend didn't live close, but wouldn't he sometimes-

“Wait,” Harry squints at the guy in the mask. “How do you know how often Louis leaves the palace?”

“Oh.” The man coughs. He doesn't stop for a while. “We've put surveillance on him, of course. That's our job, you know?”

“Riiight,” Harry drawls slowly. “Because your job is kidnapping people.”

“Exactly,” his kidnapper answers. If Harry didn't know any better he'd say he beamed, almost looking proud that Harry has drawn that conclusion.

Harry decides that arguing about Louis' boyfriend isn't going to do him any good right now and switches course.

“So, what do you even want from Louis? Assuming he shows up here of course, which, if I might say so, is rather unlikely.”

“That's classified,” the guy shrugs. Harry feels a tinge of worry in his stomach, annoyingly not for himself – he's pretty sure that guy would rather not hurt him if it can be avoided – but for Louis.

What kind of shady business did he get himself involved in now, what if he- _no_. Harry can not care about that because he and Louis are currently fighting and anyway, it should be Louis' boyfriend's job to worry about things like that. A boyfriend that Louis told him about only last week and whose existence does not absolutely smash Harry's heart into a million new pieces every time he thinks about it for too long.

“So, you're not going to tell me anything or let me go until Louis gets here?” Harry summarizes.

His kidnapper nods, smiling almost apologetically.

“And you're going to stay here and wait for him the whole time?”

His kidnapper nods again.

“Well,” Harry sighs. “Might as well get comfortable then. First, I can't keep calling you 'the kidnapper' in my head, so either you have to tell me your name or I'm going to have to make one up. Second, do you have some snacks?”

Fifteen minutes later, Harry and Neil (at least that's the probably fake name his kidnapper told him) sit next to each other on the ground, munching on some crackers, bananas and some peanut butter.

Harry's still wearing shackles, but Neil has been nice enough to release him from the chair, so now Harry's carefully trying to peel a banana with his hands bound while Neil laughs at him.

“You know,” Harry glares at him. “You are the one responsible for this mess. If I drop that banana and make it inedible, it's all your fault.”

“Oh no,” Neil says in a deadpan voice. “Whatever shall I do with that guilt.”

Harry grumbles a bit, but stops complaining after he manages to successfully take a bite.

“So,” Neil starts. “You've known Louis long?”

For a minute, Harry considers not answering, but Neil's actually been nice so far – for a kidnapper – and he doesn't think a bit of polite small-talk could hurt. After all, his mum raised him to always be kind.

“Understatement,” Harry answers Neil's question, banana still in his mouth, so it comes out a bit muffled. (His mum also taught him to never speak with his mouth full, but well, Neil kidnapped him, so Harry doesn't think all the rules really apply here.)

“We practically grew up together. He always wanted to be a knight and I always wanted to be...” Harry pauses, choosing not to add _just by his side._ Who would say something like that?

“Well, that doesn't matter now. So, anyway, he's two years older than me, I always looked up to him, then he became a knight, then he got a boyfriend, now we're not seeing each other that much anymore. The end.”

“Uh huh,” Neil just says without infliction.

“Uh huh?” Harry asks. “That sounded judgemental.”

“Oh no,” Neil defends. “Not judging. Just sounds like there is more to the story. For example, you conveniently left out the part where you absolutely have the hots for your best friend and are trying to put some distance between the two of you because him having a boyfriend hurts you.”

Harry gapes at him with his mouth open. “How did you get all of that out of what I just said?”

Neil shrugs, a small smirk on his face. “Guess I'm just that good.”

Harry considers being offended for about a split second, but then his need to complain to someone about his problems wins out. Even if that someone is technically his kidnapper. Maybe he's developing Stockholm Syndrome. Can people get that after an hour?

“Okay maybe I might have a _tiny_ crush on Louis. It doesn't matter anyway, didn't you listen to the part where I said that he had a _boyfriend_?” Harry crosses his arms in front of his chest and does his best not to pout.

“Naah, you're right, you don't look upset at all,” Neil says. The way he pats Harry on the head afterwards makes the words seem a _tad_ sarcastic though.

“Look, why don't you-” Neil gets cut off by the door to the dungeon opening. For a moment, Harry has the wild thought that it's Louis – damn Neil for putting that spark of hope into his head – but of course it's another guy in a mask.

Harry sighs. “And who might you be?”

“Umm,” the guy replies, clearly confused by Harry and Neil sitting on the ground together. His voice also sounds familiar to Harry, but when the guy continues to speak, he adapts the same ridiculously fake deep voice Neil is using. Ugh. Why did he have to be kidnapped by the most annoying people on the planet?

“I'm... umm... Lancelot. The... umm, the great and powerful.”

“Lancelot, we abandoned the titles after our codenames during the second-to-last meeting for this mission, remember?” Neil sighs. “No one is going to take you seriously like that.”

Harry wants to point out that that ship has sailed a while ago, but in that moment, Lancelot takes out quite a large crossbow. Okay, maybe he's got to take them _a bit_ seriously.

“Okay, don't make a wrong move,” Lancelot says, pointing the crossbow right at Harry's face. Harry grimaces, but before he can contemplate actually being afraid, Neil shoves the plate of snacks right between the crossbow and Harry's face.

“Li-, umm, I mean, Lancelot, sit down. Have a snack. Get to know our prisoner a bit better while we wait, huh?”

“But I thought we were meant to-” Lancelot starts, clearly confused. But whatever silent conversation Neil is trying to have with him through their masks, it must be working, because after a bit more huffing, Lancelot sighs and sits down on Harry's other side.

“Sorry about that,” he says a bit sheepishly. Harry can't really see his eyes through the mask, but he can practically feel the sincerity coming out of that guy's pores.

He thinks he might be fine here for a little while longer.

“So, there we were, right? Going for our usual Tuesday afternoon ride – Louis is a really talented rider, even won a few competitions already, did I mention that yet? – and then we took a break by the sea, I even brought stuff for a _picnic_. So the weather was nice, we were talking, I was like, gearing myself up to maybe confess my feelings to him this time, when all of a sudden, he's like, _We need to talk Harry_ , and _I can't do this anymore-_ ”

“Wait,” Neil interrupts him. “That's how he started that talk? By saying _I can't do this anymore_? And then he told you he had a boyfriend?”

“Heey,” Harry pouts. “I haven't even gotten to that part yet. You're spoiling it for Lancelot.”

Neil waves him off. “No, that wasn't my point. It's just, that's a weird way to phrase that, isn't it? Normally you'd be happy when you're telling someone about your relationship.”

“Huh,” Harry says. “Now that you mention it... That _does_ seem a little weird. He also looked really uncomfortable while telling me? And... kind of like he was expecting some sort of reaction from me and he wasn't very happy at all when I hugged and congratulated him?”

At that, Lancelot has a coughing fit next to him. Harry shoots him a concerned look. “Are you alright? Maybe you should drink some water, or-”

“He's fine,” Neil cuts him off for what must be the tenth time in the few hours they've known each other. “Now, did you just say Louis – the guy you're in love with-”

“Have a crush on, at _most_ ,” Harry mutters, but Neil ignores him completely.

“The guy you're in love with tells you he has a boyfriend and your first reaction is to hug and congratulate him?” Neil asks. Harry's pretty sure he's raising his eyebrows at him under his mask and Harry can practically feel Lancelot doing the same thing behind his back.

“Yeeeah?” he tries to defend himself weakly. “What else could I have done?”

Neil sighs. “Oh, young grasshopper. There's a lot you could have done, but it looks like your dear Louis is just as much of an idiot as you are. Truly, a match made in heaven.”

Harry almost beams at that, before he catches himself at the last second and chooses to scowl at Neil instead. He did call them idiots after all.

“So you acted happy and didn't show the tiniest of upset emotion to Louis?” Neil clarifies again.

“Yes,” Harry smiles, kind of proud of himself. “I'm a good actor, you know? I don't know why the Royal Theatre keeps ignoring my applications, clearly I would make a very excellent-”

Neil sighs deeply. “Lancelot, help me out here.”

“Well, Harry... can I call you Harry?” Lancelot checks, almost nervously, seeming relieved at Harry's confused nod.

“When people are in love, they do stupid things sometimes. Sometimes, even the people who are not in love with you may do stupid things for your own good. Say, you're good friends with two people in love, but they were the absolute biggest idiots in the world. They'd keep having misunderstandings and talking past each other, and, well, maybe then you, too, would do something drastic!” Lancelot says all of that so fast that Harry has trouble following, and even after he understands the individual words, he's still not sure what Lancelot is even trying to tell him. He has the feeling Lancelot has switched topics at one point during that rant but he isn't sure which topic he even switched _to_.

Neil facepalms next to him and pats Lancelot on the arm. “Thanks for your input, Lancelot,” he sighs. Sighing seems to be a thing that Neil does a lot, Harry has noticed.

“So, what happened next?” Neil asks, resting his chin on his hand, and blinking up at Harry expectantly. Well, as much as a person who's wearing a mask that obscures half of their face can blink up at you.

“I already told you. We said goodnight, everything was fine, and next thing I know, he hasn't talked to me for two weeks. I even suspect he runs away whenever I'm near? Which is ridiculous,” Harry tries to go for nonchalant, but he knows he didn't quite succeed in keeping the hurt out of his voice.

Neil pats him on the arm again. Harry would rather be freed from his shackles, but he doesn't know if now is a good time to bring that up.

He's just about to try and ask for more snacks – a much more reasonable demand in his eyes – when the door to the dungeon flies open again and instead of another kidnapper, there, in front him, sword drawn, stands _Louis_.

For a few long moments, nothing happens. Louis blinks several times, apparently not quite expecting to see Harry leaning against the wall, chatting comfortably with his kidnappers, the remains of his and Neil's finished snacks still scattered around them. (Honestly, they should clean up, there are probably a lot of rats down here. This _is_ a dungeon after all.)

“Louis!” Harry can't help but gasp. He doesn't know if he's happy to see him or not.

On one hand, he likes Louis (a lot) and he's glad he's apparently being rescued. On the other hand, he likes Louis (a _lot_ ) and he just did exactly what Neil said he wanted him to. He walked right into their trap.

“Release him immediately!” Louis suddenly shouts into the silence that has, admittedly, been getting a bit awkward. He seems to finally have gotten over his initial shock at the scene.

Harry tries to stand up to assist Louis at least a little bit in his rescue attempt, but his legs are wobbly from sitting on them for too long, so he feels like a literal baby deer – something Louis calls him a lot – when he falls right back down after his first attempt.

Whatever. If Louis wants to rescue him so badly, he might as well carry him out. Harry tries (and fails) not to get too hot and bothered by _that_ mental image.

Normally, Louis would probably gently laugh at him for that display of clumsiness, but right now he's just shooting glares at his kidnappers, like they are entirely at fault for Harry's wobbly knees.

(They probably share, like, 75% of the blame. The rest are just bad genes and an unlucky curse.)

“Yeah, sorry, we can't let him go,” Neil shrugs, sounding not sorry at all.

“Well, then I'm going to stab you with my sword.” Louis moves a bit closer, angling that sword carefully so it would just take a few inches more to reach Neil's chest. Another image Harry really doesn't need right now. Louis really doesn't have the right to look that good with a sword, it isn't fair-

“Naah,” Neil answers. “Because then Lancelot over here would shoot Harry with his crossbow-” Lancelot stares at Neil with wide eyes, quickly pulling out his discarded crossbow again at that, “- and everything would get really bloody and messy and none of us wants that.”

Louis scowls. Harry can practically see him thinking, and coming to the same conclusion.

With a sigh, Louis lowers his sword.

Lancelot, who's still fumbling with his crossbow, seems _very_ glad for the temporary truce, because he immediately drops his weapon again.

Louis uses that opportunity to rush to Harry's side, kneeling next to him. He looks as if he wants to reach out and touch him, but stops himself at the last second, his arms now just uselessly dangling at his side.

“Are you alright?” he asks Harry softly. And oh, how Harry has missed that voice. He likes to think Louis only uses that particularly soft tone with him, and also sometimes his little sisters. But that's probably just wishful thinking, he most likely talks to lots of people that way. Including his _boyfriend_. Immediately, the warm and safe feeling Harry has gotten at Louis' appearance vanishes again.

“I'm fine,” he says, knowing he sounds a bit like a petulant child. He tries to cross his arms in front of his chest to underline the gesture, but notices too late that his hands are still bound together, so he just jerks his arms a bit before dropping them again.

Louis just raises his eyebrows and gives him a long once-over. Harry tries not to blush under his intense stare.

“Yeah, you look alright,” Louis seems to conclude, furrowing his brows. “Which leads me to ask... what do you want?” He turns to Neil and Lancelot again at that question. “You haven't killed either of us, so you obviously want something.

“Oh, yeah,” Neil seems to realize. “Right! Lancelot, come on, the plan!” he shouts excitedly and gets up from his position on the floor, pulling a seemingly-reluctant Lancelot up with him.

And then they just walk out the door.

Harry barely has time to blink before they've shut the large cell door behind them, leaving him and Louis inside.

“You guys can... talk or whatever! Thank us later, we'll let you out in a few hours, promise! Don't have sex in there, there's a unicorn standing guard, have some decency!” Then, receding footsteps can be heard as they walk away.

Harry gasps. “I _knew_ there was a unicorn involved somehow. Aargh, I hate unicorns, I would have _much_ preferred a dragon.”

“That's your takeaway from this?” Louis sighs, but he doesn't sound surprised.

To be honest, Harry isn't that surprised either. He's cursed, he's used to situations like this. He's just sorry Louis now has to be involved in this mess as well. And, judging by the panicked look on Louis' face, he's not very happy about that either.

“Could you, umm-” Harry gestures towards his still bound hands, interrupting whatever troubling thought Louis is having right now.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Louis murmurs and undoes his bindings. He's being very gentle, just like he always is with Harry. Harry blames it on the _very_ long day he's had that that thought makes tears spring into his eyes.

Louis immediately picks up on it, of course. “Hey, what's wrong, am I hurting you?”

 _Yes,_ Harry wants to say. _Yes, you're hurting me, by having a boyfriend and ignoring me and throwing away the possibility we could have something more, and_ also _our friendship in the same week._

“No, it's fine,” he says. Then he decides that he isn't a damsel in distress after all, and adds, “Or, you know, as fine as I can be in the same room with someone who apparently doesn't even want to spend time with me and who probably sees this whole thing as a great sacrifice of his valuable time.”

Louis definitely looks shocked at that. _Yeah, take that, Tomlinson,_ Harry thinks bitterly, and then immediately feels bad for it afterwards. But whatever. Louis acted like an arse. Harry's allowed to be a little bitter about it.

“I can... explain,” Louis stutters. Harry just raises his eyebrows. The ball is definitely in Louis' court right now.

“What, that you found out about my stupid crush and didn't want to be my friend anymore because you have a hot new boyfriend now?” Harry comments, covering his mouth with his hands immediately afterwards. _Shit_. He hadn't meant to say that at _all_.

Louis' mouth drops open.

“Oh no, I take it back, it was a slip of tongue, I'm an idiot, please don't hate me,” Harry gets out very quickly, the words almost jumbling together.

“Oh,” Louis just says softly. “You have a crush on me?”

Harry covers his face with his hands, afraid to look at Louis, but he nods slowly. Might as well be honest now. He quickly tries to think what kind of influence his curse might have on this situation, but he can't think of “awkward romantic complications” being included in the long list of things that might go wrong for him because of it. So this situation is no one's fault but his own.

“I don't have a boyfriend,” Louis blurts out, the absolute _last_ thing Harry expected him to say.

He slowly lowers his hands again. “What do you mean?” he asks slowly. “Did you guys break up?”

Louis winces. “Umm, no, not exactly. He kind of... never existed?”

Harry gapes at him. Louis looks at him a bit sheepishly.

“I have a crush on you too and I wanted to find out whether you had feelings for me or not by seeing your reaction to my boyfriend-news. Clearly, I'm an idiot and was wrong.” Louis rushes those few sentences out so quickly that Harry has trouble following him, and even when the meaning hits him, he's not quite sure he understood him right.

“Please forgive me?” Louis adds, smiling tentatively at Harry.

“You like me too?” Harry repeats carefully, feeling a smile spreading on his face.

Louis nods.

“And you don't have a boyfriend?”

Louis nods again, looking scared and hopeful at the same time.

Harry can't wait any longer. He deserves his happy ending. _Now_.

So he kisses Louis and he swears he sees fireworks explode and hears angels sing, and in that moment he _knows_ the curse that's been placed on him at birth has been broken. It's been a part of him for so long that he hadn't even known he could feel it at all, but now that it's gone, it feels like a weight has been lifted off of him. Which means-

“I know this might seem a bit sudden to you,” he murmurs against Louis' lips, “But you're my one true love.”

“Love?” Louis pulls away a bit and looks at him with wide eyes. “I didn't know we were talking about love already! But you know what, we've known each other for so long, I _know_ I love you, so-”

“Umm,” Harry interrupts carefully. “I love you too, but no, I meant my curse. It's broken. Only true love's kiss can break it.”

“Oh,” Louis says. Then, “ _Oh_.” He grins at Harry. “I'm your true love, huh?”

“Yes,” Harry beams, knowing he's gone bright red from all the love talk.

Thankfully, Louis doesn't try to make him explain some more, instead he kisses him again. This time, without the nervous energy from their first kiss, it's slower, deeper, and Harry can almost feel himself-

“Yeah, okay, that's quite enough of that!” They suddenly hear a voice shout behind them. “The poor unicorn doesn't need to see that.”

“I'm about 90% sure there isn't a unicorn,” Louis mutters, but detaches himself from Harry's lips anyway. Harry almost whines.

When the cell door swings open a few moments later, Harry is quite shocked to not see two guys in ski masks, but...

“Niall? Liam? What are you guys doing here?” he asks, looking around confusedly, half-expecting their actual kidnappers to pop up any second now. Liam facepalms.

Niall just coughs. “Harry, darling, I hate to break it to you, but...” he trails off and makes a few vague hand gestures, as if Harry's already supposed to have gotten his meaning.

“But what?” he asks.

“Harry, baby,” Louis in a voice that's a bit too loud to actually qualify as a whisper. “I think what they are trying to tell you is that Niall and Liam kidnapped you.”

Harry gasps. “ _You_?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Niall just waves him off. “You can thank us later.”

Liam just looks at them sheepishly. “Worked out, didn't it?”

“You planned to kidnap me so Louis would rescue me, you could lock us in here and we'd talk about our feelings for each other?” Harry demands. They nod.

“That...” Harry trails off. “Is actually kind of genius. I'm in awe. And slightly pissed. But also, I'm a bit love-drunk right now and don't have time to deal with this because I want to get... you know what I mean, so, umm. Yeah, well done,” he finishes awkwardly. “Although I am still pissed.”

“You want to get _you know what_ , huh?” Louis whispers in his ear, thankfully _actually_ whispering this time.

Harry blushes furiously and proceeds to pull Louis out the door, until he stops in front of Niall and Liam again at the last second, remembering something.

“You even told me your name was _Neil_? That's the least creative alias ever, what's wrong with you?” Harry demands.

Niall smirks at him. “Fooled you, didn't I?”

Harry does his hardest not to pout at that.

“And you, _Lancelot_ ,” Harry narrows his eyes at Liam. Liam looks genuinely sorry. “Niall said it was a good idea,” he defends himself weakly. “Also, you're so used to kidnappings. We were pretty sure one more wouldn't scar you emotionally more than you already are.”

They... kind of had a point. And, to be fair, it _was_ one of his nicer kidnappings. One with a happy ending.

“You're not mad, right?” Liam asks carefully after Harry has obviously been quiet for too long.

Harry almost wants to hug him at that. Damn Liam and his puppy dog eyes, no one can seriously stay mad at them for too long.

“No,” he sighs. “It might be the finding-my-true-love-thing and all of that, but I'm not mad. I'm glad you guys were the last people to kidnap me for the foreseeable future.”

Louis makes a sound next to him that sounds close to a growl. “It might better be the last kidnapping, or else I-”

“Okay,” Harry interrupts quickly. “That's quite enough of that.”

And with that, he _finally_ manages to pull Louis out the door, trying to ignore the unicorn that _is_ actually guarding the door. He doesn't care what anyone says, they _are_ scary.

“Soo,” Harry starts after he has (quite boldly, if you ask him) pulled Louis into his bedroom. Sadly, he doesn't know what to do from this point onward. “Do you want... tea?”

“Tea,” Louis repeats dryly, raising an eyebrow.

Harry feels the blush rising up in his cheeks. “Yeah, um, funny story, I know we've reached the love declarations level of our relationship already, so I definitely want to have sex with you, I just... _don'treallyknowwhattodo_ ,” he mumbles the last part.

Louis seems to have understood him though, because his smile turns from teasing to gentle, and he slowly steps closer to Harry.

“That's okay, baby,” he says softly. “We can like-- take it slow?”

“How slow is slow, though?” Harry adds quickly. “Because let's be clear, I want to get fucked tonight.”

Louis seems to almost choke on his spit at that. “You can't just say things like that, Harry. Not if you want me to last more than a few minutes. Which is already utopian at this point, I'll have you know.”

Harry chooses not to think about the fact that he might not even last a few minutes himself, considering how turned on he is from this simple conversation already.

“But no,” Louis grins. “Not that slow, if you don't want to. We can just... check in a lot? Tell each other if we want to stop or take a break, change what we're doing, that sort of thing.”

“Yeah,” Harry breathes, moving even closer to Louis. Their legs are almost touching now, just an inch between them. “That sounds good.”

He's still afraid to make the first step even now, but Louis must sense that, because he's the one to close the distance between them and finally, _finally_ kisses him again.

“Wait,” Harry breaks the kiss again. “Have _you_... you know...”

“Had sex?” Louis asks. “Yes. You know I've loved you for years, but honestly, I didn't think I was ever going to have a chance with you. I'm sorry.”

“No, don't be sorry,” Harry says vehemently. “We were both idiots and that's in the past. I'm just asking because I wanted to be reassured that at least one of us knows what he's doing.”

Louis snorts and pulls Harry closer again. “Don't worry, I'm going to take care of you,” he whispers against Harry's lips. Harry feels like he's close to melting into Louis, that all the soft and lovey-dovey feelings in his heart will just make him explode into one big pile of goo.

They undress each other slowly, Louis stopping Harry every time he tries to rush ahead, kissing him, touching him everywhere except where Harry wants to be touched the most.

“Patience,” Louis whispers and like magic, Harry relaxes at that, knows that Louis has got this, that he will give him what he needs eventually, after he's made sure Harry can't form coherent thoughts anymore, much less worry about what is about to happen.

“That's it, baby,” Louis praises and Harry can't help but get even harder at that pet name. _Damn Louis,_ for immediately knowing exactly which buttons to push.

He should have known that Louis would be like this during sex; attentive and gentle, but firm when he wants to, impossibly in control.

If he wasn't already helplessly in love with Louis, Harry thinks this would have been the last straw.

Louis takes his time opening him up, keeping his promise of checking in and taking care of Harry. Harry curses his past self for wanting to take things slow, he never thought that Louis would take that quite so literally. By the time Louis has three fingers in him, Harry is a writhing mess, pleading and begging for release.

Louis, though, surprises him again. “Yeah, baby, you can come,” he says, still three fingers deep, and crooks his fingers in just the right way while touching Harry's cock at the same time.

Harry, of course, obeys immediately. It feels like nothing he ever felt before. He can never go back to simple masturbating again after this. It takes him a while to come down again, and even longer to realize that Louis still hasn't taken his fingers out.

“Wanted to come on your cock,” Harry slurs, a bit dazed, after he has at least regained the ability to speak again.

Louis just smirks at him. “Oh, you will.”

Harry just moans at that. He's never come more than once, always feeling slightly too sensitive and not motivated enough to push through after his first orgasm. With Louis though, he wants this. He wants everything.

“That okay, baby?” Louis pauses to ask for a second, and all Harry can do is nod. _More, more, more_ , is the only thing he can think right now.

“So needy,” Louis marvels, but he doesn't sound condescending, he sounds like Harry is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. Harry has never felt more precious, or more loved.

“Ready, love?” Louis asks one more time, and then he pushes in, and it's too much and not enough all at once. Harry's still sensitive from his orgasm, but he doesn't regret letting Louis fuck him.

This might be the most he's ever felt at once in his life and just when he thinks he can't take any more, just when he thinks he might burst, Louis is there to catch him.

Louis stops and slows down at just the right moments, then speeds up again, fucks into Harry with a strength that Harry never knew he possessed.

 _He's a knight_ , his brain helpfully supplies, and he just moans helplessly at the thought. Louis just smiles at him, like he knows what he's doing to him.

But, Harry notes gleefully, he finally doesn't look that fully in control anymore, there's sweat on his forehead and he's panting above him.

“Come on, baby,” Louis still gets out. “You can come again for me, right?” he encourages, and Harry can only nod. He feels tears gathering behind his eyelids because he's so overwhelmed already, but when Louis says, “Come for me, darling,” Harry just _does_. Louis isn't far behind him, and seeing his face while he comes might be even more blissful for Harry than his own orgasm.

This, Harry knows while Louis wipes him down later, is really the only way his curse could have ever been broken. It was always going to be Louis.

And they, Harry is sure of it, are going to live happily ever after.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Title taken from "Across the Ocean" by New Empire.  
> You can leave comments or kudos here, or reblog the [fic post](https://lookslikefairytale.tumblr.com/post/625538881131036672/fic-title-been-lost-for-too-long-pairing-louis), if you liked it!
> 
> (I'm here on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/fairytalelights) and on [Tumblr](https://lookslikefairytale.tumblr.com), if you wanna say hi.)


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